Southeast Asia Region of ILSI announces symposium on scientific development of food packaging; event will be held on September 24-25, 2019, in Penang, Malaysia
ENVI adopts EU bans on single-use plastics
EU Parliament’s Environment and Public Health Committee adopts draft EU directive on polluting single-use plastics and marine litter; European Parliament (EP) publishes key facts about plastic in the oceans, informs about the impact of litter and actions for reduction
MERCOSUR publishes draft silicone FCM regulation
South American trade bloc MERCOSUR is updating its standards for silicone food contact materials; includes positive lists and specific migration limits for metal salts; stakeholders can comment on the draft until May 12, 2023; Argentina and Uruguay have already notified the World Trade Organization of impending changes
Microplastics in humans: current knowledge and potential implications
Review summarizes microplastics abundance and characteristics in human biological samples including current research approaches employed, challenges, and prospects; study indicates microplastics impact human meconium and placenta microbiota; review outlines current evidence on microplastic effects upon exposure during early developmental stage
ECHA: Guidance on REACH registration of nanomaterials
European Chemicals Agency publishes and updates several guidance documents for REACH registration of nanomaterials
U.S. EPA: updates on substance risk evaluations
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalizes identification of next 20 high-priority substances for risk evaluation, includes 12 food contact chemicals; still reviewing public comments on low-priority substances
Steep decline in sperm counts of Western men
New study finds 50-60% decline in sperm counts between 1973 and 2011 among men from Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand; authors see declining sperm counts as signal of risk to men’s overall health
REACH: Thousands of substances likely ‘missing’
EU trade body UEAPME concerned about discrepancies between predicted and actual registrations by latest REACH deadline; thousands of EU-marketed substances with volumes between 1 and 100 tons potentially unregistered still
Debating environmental risks of microplastics
Scientists debate the urgency of research and actions on microplastics in the environment, present models to estimate accumulation of plastic debris and contaminants, assess risk of microplastics in the ocean
Vermont and California legislation on single-use packaging
Bills in both states aim to curb the use of single-use packaging and products; Vermont bans polystyrene packaging, plastic bags, straws; California to reduce waste from single-use packaging and products by 75%, require recyclability or compostability